The prestigious UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships commenced at the Manohar Parrikar Indoor Stadium, Navelim, Salcete, Goa on Friday. The championships were inaugurated in a grand opening ceremony by the Sports Minister Govind Gaude, in the presence of Digambar Kamat, MLA of Margao; Kamlesh Mehta, Secretary General of Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI); Nilesh Cabral, MLA of Curchorem; N. Ganeshan, Competition Manager – TTFI; Sudin Verenkar, President of the Goa Table Tennis Association (GTTA); Christopher Menezes, Secretary (GTTA); Aishwarya Nunes, Treasurer (GTTA), among others.
The 8-day championships have been organised by the Goa Table Tennis Association under the aegis of Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), featuring India’s top players and a record number of 2700 entries across 12 categories.
In an unexpected turn of events, Harmeet Desai’s absence from the championships has reshaped the men’s singles competition, elevating Manav Thakkar to the top seed position despite trailing Harmeet by 120 points. This opportunity also promotes Manush Shah to the second-seed position, significantly altering the dynamics of the competition.
Former national champion G. Sathiyan, seeded third, now faces a fresh challenge, as rising stars like Jeet Chandra, veteran Anthony Amalraj, SFR Snehit, Payas Jain, and Akash Pal round out the top ranks, all eager to capitalise on their performances from the recent Kangra event.
In the women’s singles category, Ayhika Mukherjee, fresh from her bronze medal triumph at the Asian Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, has claimed the top seeding. Poymantee Baisya follows closely as the second seed. Notably, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Ayhika’s partner in India’s historic women’s doubles medal win, holds the No. 6 seeding, while young talents Diya Chitale and Yashaswini Ghorpade have impressively secured the third and fourth seeds, respectively.
The championships kicked off with the qualifying rounds in the men’s and women’s singles events. Over 300 entries in the men’s singles have been divided into 104 groups, with top 16 seeds receiving direct entry into the main draw. One player from each group will progress to join the top players in the knockout stages. The women’s singles qualifiers, divided into 60 groups, will also see the top 16 seeds join the fray tomorrow as the second-stage matches begin.
The excitement does not stop there, as the qualifying events for the Under-19 boys and girls will commence on the second day, adding another layer of competitive intensity to the championship.
